Little Thai, Sandy Springs GA

A few Fridays ago, the kids and I fought the rush hour to meet Marie for dinner and spare her the rush hour commute home. We invited Emily from Spatialdrift to join us; Adam had the good fortune to fly out to the San Diego Comic-Con that weekend. This prompted the umpteen millionth discussion between my daughter and me about the difference between “lucky” and “fortunate.” I really, really hope that she gets this point one day. This wearying discussion concluded, I was happier to then show off the nearby fire station to the toddler, for him to smile and laugh about the fire trucks. Little Thai is in a curving strip mall on Sandy Springs Circle just before it meets Johnson Ferry. The section where we parked overlooks the fire station, and is perfect for kids to yell greetings to firemen.

Speaking of kids, my daughter claims to not like Thai cuisine, and her face fell when I told her that we had selected this place. Then I showed her the menu and suggested that if she didn’t want supper here, then I would either pick her up something from someplace after we left, or she could have dessert for dinner. She selected fried bananas and ice cream, and then picked off everybody else’s plate, arguing that she was still hungry and the food was better than she thought.

The restaurant opened in 2004 and offers a similar menu to most Thai restaurants in the area. I went with a tofu masaman curry, and Marie had chicken pad thai, and Emily had beef with basil noodles and carrots. Everything tasted pretty good. I understand that masaman curries are intentionally milder than most of their peers on the menu, but I was surprised by just how little “oomph” there was. It had a pleasant and mild sweetness. It was satisfying, but soon forgotten.

Put another way, I think Little Thai is a really good example of neighborhood cuisine. If you live in Sandy Springs, or are meeting friends and family there, then it’s a perfectly fine destination that won’t do you wrong. On the other hand, it’s so similar to every other strip mall Thai restaurant that we’ve visited that we didn’t taste any standouts. We live just a few miles from Lemon Grass and Red Elephant, each of whom do the same thing just as well. Meeting somebody in the area, I’d be happy to return, but we probably wouldn’t go out of our way again.

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